Elia Kazan

in his life, and that is key to this book.

So if you're watching the show, about to watch the show, w- looking for reviews 'cause you've watched it and you're incensed or you loved it, I think everyone has to be right, though, with all due respect, Elia Kazan, Cathy's a monster.

And you cannot read in an assault where Steinbeck-

Yeah

Because touching a piece of mid-century American mythos is already dangerous.

But when that mythos is tied to Elia Kazan's 1955 film, the movie that permanently cemented James Dean into the cultural stratosphere, the expectations are just crushing.

Which brings us to our mission today.

Welcome to The Deep Dive.

We really are.

A- and it creates such a massive contrast with the 1955 film.

I mean, Elia Kazan's movie famously didn't even attempt to adapt the whole book.

No, it sliced off the final third.

And the adaptations have continually tried to capture its magic, though they always struggle with the sheer sprawling size of the narrative.

Elia Kazan's 1955 film is the most famous attempt.

It is a cinematic masterpiece.

But to make it work as a two-hour film, Kazan had to make brutal cuts.

And Jo Van Fleet won an Academy Award for her terrifying portrayal of Cathy, even though the scope of her character's rise to power was heavily compressed.

There was also a 1981 television miniseries that had more room to breathe and included more of the generational backstory.

And looking forward, there is a highly anticipated Netflix adaptation directed by Zoe Kazan, Elia Kazan's granddaughter, bringing it back into a long-form series shape that might finally be able to hold the entire novel.

Film naturally gravitates toward Cal's arc because the story of a son seeking a father's love is so universally recognized.

It really should.

Her grandfather is the legendary Elia Kazan, who, um, he directed the iconic nineteen fifty-five film adaptation starring James Dean.

Which is wild.

Right? So we are analyzing a story about the inescapable gravity of family legacy.

And when I said that, I'm like, well, I didn't know Daryl Zanuck directed a movie.

I realized it was Elia Kazan that directed the movie.

I just started speaking.

I had my notes here, and I don't know how that got mixed up, but there we go.

East of Eden, Netflix on October 1st.

What to know? John Steinbeck's epic novel in the source material for its ambitious limited series created by Zoe Kazan, whose grandfather, Eli Kazan, directed the 1955 film adaptation of the book.

The show redirects focus to Kathy Ames, the wife of one of the novelist protagonists and one of the most beguiling characters in American literature.

She is played by actress Florence Pugh, War is on HBO October 1st.

East of Eden, Netflix on October 1st.

What to know? John Steinbeck's epic novel in the source material for its ambitious limited series created by Zoe Kazan, whose grandfather, Eli Kazan, directed the 1955 film adaptation of the book.

The show redirects focus to Kathy Ames, the wife of one of the novelist protagonists and one of the most beguiling characters in American literature.

She is played by actress Florence Pugh, War is on HBO October 1st.